BTW, this is not the first time that I have experienced the 503 error recently. I have noticed it a few times within the last few weeks, but normally a second try works fine. High usage does not always appear to be a contributing factor.

Yes, Thanks Al. I noticed that there were over 1,000 lounging when I eventually got in, but I thought the new set-up was built to be able to handle the high volumes?

I had the same error for 20 minutes and then was able to log in (obviously ) I checked out about 503 server error and since I was able to access other websites, figured it was high volume. This is the first time--other than the planned shut-downs) that I haven't been able to access WSL. It was a bit disconcerting

The good thing about Amazon's EC2 platform is that it is easy to deploy more computing resources. BUT, you still have to deploy them. Each image that is deployed is paid for whether it is used or not. Additional charges are incurred for data transfer.

So, the admin crew has to monitor usage to see if it is an occasional blip or a true growth spurt.

The good thing about Amazon's EC2 platform is that it is easy to deploy more computing resources. BUT, you still have to deploy them. Each image that is deployed is paid for whether it is used or not. Additional charges are incurred for data transfer.

But there are 30 Admins listed now! - surely someone had their eye on the ball? Or is the policy to wait until the meter runs out before putting another coin in the slot?

Not so sure about that, Stuart. It's now about 4 hours later and I just made a post in this forum that, after pressing the "post it" button it took about 30-45 seconds for the post to render. I'm now gonna see how THIS reply does.

I had the same error for a short time, it looks like the Lounge was temporarily overloaded.

At the moment it says there are 237 on the website, but I experienced this same error about 5 minutes ago and it took a bit before I could get back in. Maybe there was an immense number of users sorting through the lounge then, I don't know. But it is weird for this to happen.